Gambling has become very popular in recent years as shown by the number of states having legalized landbased casino gambling such as Las Vegas and Reno, Nev.; Atlantic City, N.J., and New Orleans, La. Riverboat gambling has also become popular and is in several states including Mississippi, Mo. and Illinois. Most forms of gambling center around automated slot machines, roulette wheels, dice, or card games such as poker and blackjack played on the tables on the casino floors.
Card games used in gambling are traditionally limited to blackjack, poker, and the like. While the rules for versions of these games may vary, almost no new card games are ever created for players.
These traditional card games are generally controlled manually by having a dealer pass out cards to players seated around a table, where the dealer manually controls the wagering and jackpot payouts. Attempts have been made to automate aspects of these card games. See for example: U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,531,187 to Uhland; 5,159,549 to Hallman, Jr. et al.; 5,265,874 to Dickinson; 5,326,104 to Pease et al.: 5,377,973 to Jones et al.; 5,393,067 to Paulsen et al.; 5,470,079 to LeStrange et al.; and 5,476,259 to Weingardt. However, these devices and systems generally are complex and expensive and still do not allow for monitoring from a central point the tracking, jackpots, and wagering status of the games.